Tony Goode, the former Marks & Spencer employee sacked after he leaked
details of plans to slash redundancy payouts at the retailer, has lost his
employment tribunal case.

Tony Goode was dismissed after passing an internal email outlining proposals to reduce redundancy benefits to a newspaperPhoto: Jane Mingay

By Richard Fletcher, Executive editor

6:56PM BST 10 Jul 2009

Mr Goode, who had worked for M&S for 25 years, was dismissed for gross misconduct last September after passing an internal email outlining proposals to reduce redundancy benefits by up to 25pc to a newspaper.

Mr Goode's suspension sparked a public row at the time, that proved embarrassing for both the retailer and Sir Stuart Rose, the group's chief executive.

The customer loyalty manager, who used his company e-mail account to leak the internal memo, told the employment tribunal earlier this year that he did so because he "despaired" about the direction the retailer was taking and feared that job losses were looming.

With the backing of his trade union, the GMB, Mr Goode had argued that his sacking was unfair and breached the Human Rights Act.

He claimed he passed on the internal memo outlining proposals to cut redundancy benefits because he felt that the internal consultation process that the company was undertaking about the plans was a "sham".

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A M&S spokesman said: "We are very pleased. We obviously take these matters extremely seriously, but we're glad to now draw a line under this."

At the time of the dismissal the retailer argued that the decision to dismiss Mr Goode followed a "diligent and thorough" process and said that he would not give a commitment not to disclose further information.